


The In-Between

by lattedi



Category: Minecraft (Video Game), Video Blogging RPF
Genre: (my account is @ayupranboo_ lets be moots!!), Based off of my own theory, Light Angst, Memory Loss, Mentioned Dream SMP Ensemble, Mentioned Ranboo (Video Blogging RPF), Other, Tales Of The SMP, The In-between, Time Travel, Time traveller Karl Jacobs, posted on twitter
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-15
Updated: 2021-02-15
Packaged: 2021-03-16 10:54:44
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,234
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29452644
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lattedi/pseuds/lattedi
Summary: Karl looked around at the pristine place that he had come to know as the In-Between. Each time he visited, it got more familiar, and he discovered more books, but he hadn't found what would give him control of his memory. He could feel it fading, dust being blown away and lost within the swirls of wind.ORKarl is the one who leaves his past self notes; based on my own Twitter theory!
Comments: 2
Kudos: 28





	The In-Between

**Author's Note:**

> hey bitches,,,, how are we feeling after karl's tales of the smp stream
> 
> i went as fast as i could on this, my writers block has been shit for me so uh yeah! based off of my own theory
> 
> set in quite a few different timelines!

Karl looked around at the pristine place that he had come to know as the In-Between. Each time he visited, it got more familiar, and he discovered more books, but he hadn't found what would give him control of his memory. He could feel it fading, dust being blown away and lost within the swirls of wind.

He knew that he was running out of time, and all that he could do was leave notes for his past self and save himself from his own mistakes. He took out a book and a quill, dipped the metal into ink, and began his note to himself.

"As you're aware you've been here many times now. It's like your home away from home."

The page felt fragile within Karl's fingers as he turned it slowly, scrawling messily within the folds of the book.

"You'll see that if you don't figure out what about this world is harming your memory, you'll start to be wary of others, even your closest friends."

A tear fell upon the page he was writing on and almost smeared the shining ink. He remembered with a pang the look on the faces of the people who he couldn't place. They were familiar, felt warm and soft, and smelled of lemongrass and peppermint, but were foreign, as foreign as many of the places he had been. He turned another page carefully.

"Which is why you absolutely need to continue to search this castle. The in-between is a gateway for you that you may be able to tap into for the better."

He shut the book softly and placed it inside the item frame where he knew that his past self would find it. He turned and watched the many Karls around him with their dull hoodies, and he knew that each of them had a story racing in their mind, stories he had since forgotten, but stories he knew were safe within the pages of books that he himself had written to preserve them.

Karl walked towards the stairs and began to climb to the next level of the castle, watching as a past version of him walked towards the book that he had just written. He smiled.

* * *

Karl's eyes were filled with tears as he pulled out a book and dipped his quill into the black ink. His hand was shaking so badly that he got small drops of ink on the page before he could write. The letters were shaky, and it was hard for him to see through the tears threatening to fall. The memory of what he had just seen was fresh. He had to help his past self again.

"This is a beautiful castle. I think it is unlikely you'll ever be able to traverse the whole thing within one visit. Unfortunately, that means there will always be secrets left undiscovered."

Karl's hand trembled so badly that he almost ripped out the page he was trying to turn to get to the next one.

"The castle is dynamic. It is alive similar to you or me, constantly changing and growing and adapting. This is not a bad thing, if anything, it will help you find a way to stop this harm being done to you."

He choked back a sob, knowing that he needed to finish his job before he lost control.

"Fear not, this is not a place to provoke harm, but a place to feel at ease."

He forced the book into the item frame, turned, and walked away from the polished andesite with a flower pot on top, the blackened flower leaving his vision. He released a silent sob and let the tears fall down his cheeks, trying to force the memory burned into his mind away.

* * *

He knew it was too late. He had solved the mystery of the in-between, but it was much too late for him to have any control. He looked at his sleeve, devoid of any color, and tried to remember his name and what he was trying to do, but he couldn't. The information he had stored within his brain was long gone, replaced by a void of loss. Guilt tore at his insides every day. All he could remember was that he had been here many times and that he needed to help his past self to try and find out the mystery of the in-between before it was truly too late. 

Figures that looked like him roamed below, and he knew that they were from different timelines, but he couldn't remember why or how they had gotten here. This was his home... or was it? Did he have a home away from home? Was this truly his home?

He pulled out a book and quill and began to write.

"LOOK UNDER THE TREE" 

He signed it as "????????", for he could not remember his name, and placed it in an item frame within a hole in the wall. He ran towards the large tree that looked oddly familiar to him. He couldn't place where he knew it from.

He took out his quill and began to scrawl, "DONT STRAY FROM THE PATH", and suddenly his vision went white, and the next thing he remembered was looking at an 87-page book named "STOP" sitting in an item frame below the tree's birch wood.

He walked away slowly, went down the staircase to the right of the tree, and pulled out another book, and got his quill ready to write to a specific version of his past self, one of the only fragments of himself that he could remember.

"This is the end for today. You may not think you have gotten closer to the end result I know you so desperately crave, but you have."

Something he had desperately craved for the longest time, something he had finally discovered but it had been too late.

"I know you don't want to lose your friends, I don't want you to either."

And he didn't. He had already lost his friends, looked at the unfamiliar faces that were full of anger and hurt before, felt enough guilt to last him a lifetime.

"Do not tell anyone about the in-between."

He had made that mistake, he had tried to tell someone who experienced some of the same memory issues as him, a half-enderman half-unknown boy that he couldn't remember the name of, and he hadn't understood.

"This will be the last time you travel back to your original library, but it may look a little different this time around."

A blot of ink fell on the bottom of the page, so he had to turn to a new page.

"Make sure you preserve its stories. It is essential."

He had already forgotten most of his own stories, lost so many of his books. He had to make sure that someone preserved them better than he had.

"I can guarantee if you explore this castle enough, you will one day know what to do to stop losing yourself and have better control over your mind."

It was too late for him, but he could try to save his past self while he still knew how.

"Until next time, enjoy yourself."

He dipped his quill into the ink once again and wrote the last thing he could think of, the last words he could truly remember.

"I hope to see you back here soon."

* * *

**Author's Note:**

> thank you for reading! i hope you enjoyed <333 my twitter is @ayupranboo_, go follow me if you want, lets be moots :D
> 
> also the thing about the tree looking familiar: was it just me that thought that the tree looked suspiciously similar to the tree in the city of mizu? what if karl built it as a reminder of the city of mizu? and yes, i did tweet that, but i thought it necessary to put it as a follow-up in this story just in case you didnt understand that part!!
> 
> have a great day, stay safe loves!!
> 
> -coffee


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